BOSTON _ To put this dud in context, consider that the triple play Boston turned in the fourth inning wasn't even the most impressive inning the Red Sox had.
That came an inning later, in the fifth.
Boston singled their way into an eight-run inning that bounced Mike Leake quickly and fed what became a 10-4 rout Tuesday night at Fenway Park. By the time the game was over the Cardinals had yet to find a way to use all of the relievers they brought with them into the interleague series, and had exhausted all of the spare batters on their bench.
Rick Porcello got two double plays and the aforementioned triple play to skate through five scoreless innings before the Cardinals scored a run. By then, Boston already had a nine-run lead and Leake was long gone, replaced by Matt Bowman, who also struggled.
Porcello allowed eight hits and 10 baserunners, but was able to skirt around trouble with the double- and triple-duty grounders and six strikeouts. His seven innings of work contrasted with another in a line of struggles from Leake, who didn't see the end of the fifth inning. He allowed eight runs on nine hits through 41/3 innings.
Once the team leader in ERA, Leake has allowed 18 runs in his previous four starts combined, and since the All-Star break the Cardinals have won only two of his starts.
They had to score eight runs in each to do so.
